The Best Gift is You
by TheAmaryllisBlossom
Summary: Lily's friends convince her to go to Slughorn's Christmas party. Though she's a nervous wreck, Lily can't help but hope a certain Marauder will be there...


**Disclaimer:**** Harry Potter? Nope. Not mine. I am **_**not**_** that good!**

**A/N:**** I just wanted to say that I completely adore the Lily/James couple, and I hope I was able to create a really sweet, as fluffy as cotton-candy moment. Also, sorry to anybody that was reading this...I found some errors that I had to go back and fix. ;P Enjoy!**

**The Best Gift Is You**

"No! I really don't think this is a good idea guys, come on! Please…I don't want to go! I told you that two weeks ago!" I yelled helplessly as my best friends, Marlene, Alice, and Mary started to drag me up the stairs to our dorm. Christmas break started tomorrow, and unfortunately, there was a celebration for the upcoming holiday. Professor Slughorn's Christmas party was tonight…which, until thirty seconds ago, I had not been attending.

"Come _on_ Lily! Find some holiday spirit! It'll be fun! And your…" - Mary coughed politely here - "… friend will be there."

"Who? All of you are going; you're my friends. Who else is there?" I inquired.

This was a bit of a game between us. Since eventually befriending the Marauders, James becoming Head Boy, and my recent and not-so-secret-crush-on-him, at least not to my friends, I had been incessantly prodded, poked, questioned, and now bullied into going to the party. We all knew who Mary and I were speaking of. We just didn't speak the name out loud, which had taken much pleading and many puppy-dog faces on my part. Thank goodness they had listened to me. I _did not _want _anyone_ finding that out by eavesdropping; especially Sirius or James.

"Well…You know who…" Marlene trailed off and left us with that pun. She started grinning the moment we began to laugh. Marlene loved making people laugh; she liked knowing she had caused some kind of merriment in these dark times.

"Anyway, Lily, you've _got_ to come! _Please_?" Alice pleaded. "I'm going with Frank. Marlene's going with Sirius, and Mary is going with Remus." We had arrived at our dormitory by now; Mary was first in the bathroom, so she was grabbing everything she needed from her trunk: Makeup, hair pins, dress robes, and jewelry.

I sighed. "So?"

"AndJamesisgoingalone" Marlene coughed behind her hand.

"Ooo, subtle. I'm still not going." I laughed and rolled my eyes. Alice, by now, was changing, and through the pink dress robes her muffled voice called out "But you _have_ to!" and she stamped her matching rose-colored shoe on the stone floor.

"Look, Lily," Mary said as she came out of the bathroom and Marlene went in after her. "Don't you want an opportunity to look pretty and dress up for James?" She left the question hanging in the air; giving me time to think and, ultimately, convince myself. Argh, that was clever of her. They all knew me so well. Darn. I was going to go.

"All right," I groaned. "I'll go."

There was a sudden burst of excited voices and Marlene cried out "That's my girl!" followed by Alice shouting "Yay! I knew you'd come around!" and Mary's shriek of "Yes! We did it!" I sighed. It was going to be a really, really long night.

We were ready. I stifled a giggle at the sight we would make walking down to Slughorn's classroom. All of us were wearing different colors; Alice was in rose pink, a kind and gentle shade, with her honey hair curled prettily at the ends and hanging loose down her back. Marlene stood proudly in vibrant purple, her dark hair loosely curled and in a high, bouncy ponytail atop her head; she seemed to radiate life. Mary stood at the door. She was in a lovely, calm, shade of sea blue. Her brown hair was now straight and in an elegant twist at the nape of her neck.

As for me, I was in emerald green. My mum and dad had gotten the dress robes as a gift for me before they died in late spring last year; sixth year. I had managed to get my hair straight with an abominable amount of gel and potion. I'd had Mary's help with the style; she had it pinned up, and then left a few curly tendrils framing my face.

As we filed out the door of our dormitory and down the steps to the common room, Marlene took the lead, confident and fearless. Alice was next in line going down the spiraling stairs, graceful and glowing, as Frank joined us and took her hand in his. Mary, Marlene, and I expected a marriage proposal any day now. Mary followed behind Alice, calm and unperturbed as Remus joined us. The two seemed satisfied being close friends.

I was content to watch as the Marauders slowly infiltrated my group of friends. Sirius and Peter came next, and by now we had walked down the stairs to the dungeons. Sirius took the lead with Marlene, while casually draping an arm about her waist and kissing her cheek. Peter joined Remus and Mary, making their place in our unofficial line somewhat wide for our side of the corridor, as other groups of three's and four's inched their way around our widely spread apart group.

James wasn't coming yet. I lagged behind, afraid of entering Slughorn's room first. I mean, if I was first and saw James, what would I do? Exactly. I didn't know. So I crept along at a snail's pace. Until another thought hit me.

What if James joined our group on the way down? I, being alone and the girl of his affections, would surely be the one to have him accompany me. Being near him had been awkward for me lately, at best, and it only got worse, since I found myself liking James Potter more and more.

The solution was, of course, obvious. Go walk with one of my friends. But which one? Mary's group was already getting dark looks from other students with large groups wishing to pass; so I couldn't go there. Marlene was accompanied by Sirius, and he was surely bright enough to have figured out my 'little crush' by now. Come to think about it, Remus and Peter probably knew too. I mentally kicked myself, and nearly physically as well. At this rate, James would know about my…affections before I could say "Happy Christmas!"

Being Sirius, James' best friend, and a Marauder, I would doubtlessly have received some teasing if I went up there. That left Alice and Frank. Which was fine by me. No Marauders there.

Ah…wait.

Crap.

James _just joined Alice and Frank!_ Now what am I supposed to do?

In severe desperation, I joined Mary's group. I could've joined Marlene and Sirius, but then I would have had to pass Alice, Frank, and James. Needless to say, that _so_ wasn't going to happen.

I was only able to join Mary's group by walking next to Remus. Which was fine, I liked Remus. He was smart, kind, and gentle. The problem was that he was on Mary's right side, the side closest to the wall. It wasn't a problem for Remus, but now that I was there, it was a crowded. I was walking uncomfortably close to the wall. So close in fact, that I was afraid of an earring being ripped out, my hair completely falling apart, or grazing either my elbow or cheek.

"Oh, hello Lily. Didn't see you there." Remus smiled at me.

By now I was almost walking sideways. Like a crab. I really didn't want to mess up my hair and go in to the party bruised and tattered, but I managed a brief, breezy "Hello, Remus. How are you?" Then I promptly looked forward again, making sure I wasn't going too fast. Going too fast would result in me walking into the person in front of me, which was…James. I hoped he didn't feel stalked, or feel my gaze on him as I was trying not to fall. I _was not_ staring. Nope.

Remus notices the tight spot I was in and slid our line over a little, which meant I could walk facing completely forward again.

"Thanks, Remus." I told him, relieved. "Imagine if I tripped?" I started to laugh at the thought. Then, at the same time Remus said quietly: "I imagine James would be there to catch you." Mary, who had joined our conversation said: "Then I would see you next fall!"

I stared, speechless for a minute, Peter's face mirroring my own. I was staring because of what Remus had said, and the way it touched me. James _would _be there to catch me, and not just because he's right in front of me. But then I recovered and told Mary, "Silly, I'm not planning on coming back next year! Are you?" Then the four of us burst into laughter, and the five people in front of us turned and looked at us curiously.

"What's so funny?" Sirius asks. Instead of telling him, we all laughed harder. "C'mon" he continued "You know how much I love a good joke." He pressed. Finally, Mary gave in, giving Sirius a 'quick version' between spouts of giggles.

"It…It was just…if Lily fell, a-and see you next f-fall, and not c-coming back next year. Ar-Are you?"

She gave into the laughter. Sirius seemed to understand enough of the joke to grin, and then told us to "Save the firewhiskey for the party." This caused another round of giggles. Everyone else still seemed somewhat puzzled, but went along with the joke, telling me to "Watch your step on the stairs, Lily" or "Careful, the ice is slippery!" and telling Peter, Mary, Remus, and I to "Do well on finals, you said you weren't coming back next year, right?"

By the time we reached Slughorn's, we had calmed down some. Now we were restlessly waiting for those in front of our group to enter the room. When we did, I heard a collective intake of breath.

It was beautiful. In the center of the room was a tall Christmas tree. It was stunning. It had a gorgeous star on top, and it looked as if Professor Flitwick had been at work. The tree twinkled with little flecks of light in the darkened room. It was decorated with round orbs of every color; from purple to orange to green, striped orbs, spotted orbs, and orbs with little moving pictures on them. Colorful garlands sparkled across the boughs. There were even gifts under the tree, but I think they were just decoration.

Slughorn had Christmas music playing. It wasn't blaring, but it was still loud enough to dance to. I lowered my head from staring at the tree to see Alice and Frank dancing slowly, and in a slightly darker corner, Marlene and Sirius were dancing. I think. It was a shadowed corner in a semi-dark room, so it was hard to tell. I decided not to look too closely if they were in a secluded, shadowed corner.

I looked to my right, where Mary was good-naturedly trying to get Peter to join in all the festivities. Looking further I saw Remus chatting with a tall Ravenclaw girl. I was interrupted from my observations of the party by a tap on the shoulder. Giving a start, I turned to see James. His hair still didn't lie flat, but that wasn't what I was paying attention to. I was looking into his eyes, when he asked me "Lily, may I have a dance with you?" _You can have them all_, I thought. Instead I just stuttered a "Y-yes, you may." Swallowing my apprehension, I let James lead me closer to the tree.

I was flustered. I was so out of my element. So I let James start the conversation. At this stage of our 'relationship' it would have been really awkward _not_ talking. "Do you suppose those gifts are real?" he asked me.

"I don't know…I suppose they're just decoration" I replied. Goodness, of all things, he wanted to talk about the mysterious fake presents?

"I guess we could open one and find out." He suggested with a mischievous grin.

"What do you mean 'we'?" I asked suspiciously. If he's going to get into trouble it will be by himself.

"I mean, I choose a gift, hand it to you, and you, Lily, would open it."

"Mmm… No. I don't think so…they're fake."

Just then Dumbledore and a reluctant McGonagall waltzed by us, preventing James from further convincing me into opening a fake gift. We laughed at the sight, and then James told me that he asked Slughorn about the gifts, which were apparently real. "Fine." I said. "I'll open one. Just one, though, okay?" James grinned happily and dragged me to the tree. I felt very short standing next to it.

Someone nudged me, and I saw James holding out a blue-wrapped gift with a silver bow for me to open. Wordlessly, I took the gift from him, and began to untie the bow.

"Um, James. The box is empty." To prove my point, I turned it upside down and shook it. I looked up, confused, and saw James smiling at me. He took the box and placed it back under the tree. When he stands up, we were _really_ close. Just then the clock started to strike midnight.

"Happy Christmas, Lily"

"Happy Christmas, James" I replied, and smiled up at him, reaching out to hold his hand. James leaned down slowly, so slowly I'm not sure he was even going to do it, and he kissed me.

Hand in hand, James and I left the party with everyone else. None of our friends said a word about it, though Sirius looked ready to burst with all he wanted to say. When we arrived at the common room I told James, "Thank you, James. I had a lovely time."

"I hope you weren't too upset by the empty gift box." He joked lightly, giving me a small smile.

"Not at all. You gave me something better." I replied quietly.

"The best gift is you, Lily." He told me, and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Goodnight James."

"Goodnight Lily."

Smiling slightly, I turned to head to my dormitory. I felt happy, elated, and free.

I felt complete.


End file.
